Hydrocarbons, such as oil and gas, are commonly obtained from subterranean formations that may be located onshore or offshore. The development of subterranean operations and the processes involved in removing hydrocarbons from a subterranean formation typically involve a number of different steps such as, for example, drilling a wellbore at a desired well site, treating the wellbore to optimize production of hydrocarbons, and performing the necessary steps to produce and process the hydrocarbons from the subterranean formation.
In conventional drilling operations, a drill bit is mounted in a bottom hole assembly (BHA) at the end of a drill string (e.g., drill pipe plus drill collars). At the surface a rotary drive turns the string, including the bit at the bottom of the hole, while drilling fluid (or “mud”) is pumped through the string. Drill bits typically include cones and/or hardened inserts to mechanically contact and drill through the subterranean formation, thereby advancing the wellbore. Drill bits with hardened inserts affixed to a bit body are known as “fixed-cutter” drill bits. Some fixed-cutter drill bits include a bit body formed by casting an infiltrated metal-matrix composite (MMC) material in a mold. The mechanical properties (e.g., stiffness, toughness) of these infiltrated MMC fixed-cutter bits are typically selected to promote the goal of effectively advancing the wellbore through the subterranean formation. For example, the mechanical properties of the MMC fixed-cutter bit can be selected in an effort to avoid or minimize undesirable crack propagation through the bit body.